The low-cost no frills air carriers Ryanair and Easyjet have some fantastic bargains for travel in the European Union right now.
I found a flight from London Stansted Airport to Bilbao, Spain (it's in the northern Basque region of Spain) for 15.99 Euros or about 20 USD on easyJet.com. You could visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and see the Russian art exhibit and take in the marvelous looking museum designed by the North American architect Frank O. Gehry....for 20 dollars, plus the cost of admission to the museum.
Ryanair.com has a whole bunch of flights advertised for .14 Euros. That doesn't include the taxes and fees, but once you add those in - they are offering fares to a whole lot of places in Europe for about 20 dollars.
Wow!
From what I've read these fares are subsidized by the tourist industries in the various cities, assuming you will book a hotel, dine and otherwise spend some money in their fair cities. Many of the flights fly into smaller airports anxious to build a tourist industry now that the E.U. has opened up the continent. For a student or someone who travels light, these could be great opportunities to see Europe on a budget.
p.s. I found out about these deals by reading an article in the April 24th edition of the "New Yorker" magazine by Anthony Lane, called - "High and Low - How to be a Jet-Setter for Next to Nothing". It's an interesting article on low cost no frill airlines and the great deals available on airfare in Europe right now. You'll have to buy the magazine, or get it at the library to read it, it's not online.
